Saturday, March 12

We learn how to count at an early age and never seem to stop.We count fingers and toes, pieces of Halloween candy, money, and how others wrong us.Old hurts make their way into many arguments; old mistakes make their way into new gossip, finding life when we’d hoped they’d been left behind; we compare notes and call in favors—after all, she owes me.I can’t help but think that we’ve missed the point of it all.Counting really has no place in relationships.God loves us so much that God pours love and grace out in front of us, offering hope and new opportunities.God literally gave everything for us—God holds back nothing that is healthy.And yet we hold back and we try to barter with God and one another.How come we don’t see that we don’t have to play these exhausting games?God has already fully given us love, without restraint.We don’t have to be afraid to do the same—and in fact, that is precisely what we are called to do.We’ve been entrusted with that task: to love one another and God so fully that each individual is honored and restored to healthy mutually-giving relationship.Am I still trying to barter?Or have I given my love fully?Am I open to fully being loved?

Prayer Help me let go of hurts, really let go of them. They keep me enslaved and do nobody any good.